In that, Americans have yet to select renewables that they can actually live with, after they get used to not having every KW hour they want.

Each environment has somewhat different renewables. I've been examining them for a very long time and see 2 different avenues. Low tech and high tech. Low tech is often very long lived with lower efficiency, high tech might be junk in a few years with nothing to salvage.

Some examples of high tech are solar cells. They have improved a great deal, but still deteriorate. Batteries are still a minor nightmare and very expensive. Direct use of solar seems to be a better way if the high tech equation of storage is taken out of solar. Then, the technology issue, how do you have lights at night without batteries?

No good answer exists for that yet. There are some other ways, but without practices, or simple research to refer to, there is no way to know.

With practices of innovative methods come common sense standards and greater efficiency.

For example of a technology that seems to be both high and low tech. Wind. Two basic worlds compete. Vertical axis turbine (VAWT) and horizontal shaft propellers (HAWT). The relative problems are the lower tech VAWT does not perform quite as well as the HAWT. The HAWT however is a high performance device and in the past the problem was one of over revving and blowing up. Newer devices seem to do much better. Still, if there is any failure, the repair costs will be high and support might not be present as small manufacturers go out of business. Storage of energy is still a problem. The lower tech VAWT is exceptionally suited for compressing air. Recent automotive development of air cars, engines and compressors indicate that an entire area of very functional, relatively low tech machinery is on the horizon, in France. Why it has been ignored in America, we can only guess:)

Now we enter another realm of "eco village" potential. The village that pioneers actual low and high tech renewables and either finds them viable, or not, no matter where the technolgy is from, could be the higher functon of the village concept in the longer run. Publishing and diseminating enough technological documentation to make it possible for others to duplicate and follow in the footsteps assures the expansion of functionality.

Choosing methods of seeing this process optimized could easily be a worthy target for a long term goal of ECOVILLAGE NETWORK'S as an added function contributing to the availability of ever increasing functionality for renewable energies.